


The Secret Breaker

by hazelhackley



Series: Killer Princesses [5]
Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types, Disney - All Media Types, Disney Princesses, Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Gen, unwilling marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-13
Updated: 2014-03-13
Packaged: 2018-01-15 15:36:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1310053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelhackley/pseuds/hazelhackley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would happen if the Beast died. Based off both the original fairy tale and the Disney film.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Secret Breaker

My father, a merchant, went off to market one day, as usual. That day, he asked my sisters and I what we wanted for a present. My eldest sister wanted a brocade dress, my other a pearl necklace. I was not one to be picky. I responded, “All I’d like is a rose you’ve picked specially for me!”

I went about my business in the village as always. I said my hellos to the shopkeepers and returned a book that I had borrowed from the book seller the previous day. I decided to borrow my favorite one volume after browsing his shelves and he even allowed me to keep it! After reading at my favorite spot, I went home, but not before the vulgar Gaston came my way. 

He almost immediately asked me to be his wife, saying today was the day of my dreams. He painted a picture of our to-be married life together: we would have six or seven children, and I would massage his feet after he went hunting! I attempted brushing him aside, but he took an interest in the book in my hand. “It’s not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas!” I ignored him, telling him he was primeval. A man such as him couldn’t understand the jab I had taken at his pride. He thought I had complimented him. I pushed him out of the way one or five times, and he finally let me be. 

A storm hit the village that night as Father would have begun to make his trek back home. Lost, he saw a castle in the middle of the dark wood, lit up as clear as day. 

He told himself, “I hope I’ll find shelter there.” Reaching the door, there was no one to greet him, despite his shouts. He tied his horse to a nearby tree and entered the large castle’s doors, plucking up his courage. Exploring, he found a dinner fit for a king laid out. Shouting again, still no one came. Starved, he ate like he had not eaten in weeks. Finding a crackling fire and a made bed, he fell asleep upon laying down, unable to resist himself. 

The next morning, coffee and fruit was laid on the night stand beside him. After breakfast, he scoured the castle to find his host and thank him for saving him from the night. Still, no one responded. Father left the castle to find his horse, which he had tethered to a tree the night previously. A rose bush next to it sparked his memory of his promise to me! If only he had not picked that single rose. A giant beast sprang up, in clothes fit for a king. The beast growled angrily, yelling. “Ungrateful man! I gave you shelter, you ate at my table and slept in my own bed, but now all the thanks I get is the theft of my favorite flowers?! I shall put you to death for this slight!” Father trembled and sank to his knees in fear, explaining his thievery was due to me! 

The Beast was quite reasonable looking back. He spared Father’s life in exchange for the delivery of myself to his castle. He could not thank him enough, close to tears. Father finally arrived home and told us his tale. I had no choice but to follow him. I would do anything for my father and told him as such. 

Unlike Father’s greeting, I was taken in his home quite politely, though it would become my prison. I was given the finest rooms, allowed anything of the castle, save one, at the very top of the stairs in the tower. My hatred of the animal lessened with time. We had many conversations that were actually quite enjoyable. After a month, he asked if I might marry him. 

As suspected, I was taken aback. Marry this monster? I’d rather die, but he had been so considerate in his care of me. I refused politely, and the Beast was very kind in his acceptance of this, telling me, “I quite understand! And I’m not offended by your refusal.” Life in the castle continued. Weeks later, I was presented with a magic mirror and was able to see my family. The Beast had suspected I was homesick. 

One day, he found me crying. The mirror had shown me my father, who was ill and dying. He allowed me a week back home as long as I would return to the castle on the seventh day. When I returned home, I found that Father was not dying, but had fallen ill from knowing I was prisoner. When in his embrace once more, he was well on the way to recovery. I stayed at his side for the straight week, telling him everything. What I did in my day-to-day activities, even how kind the Beast had ended up being! After the seventh day, the Beast appeared in my magic mirror, pleading for me to return. Somehow, the village had caught wind of this. 

Gaston, jealous, in a rage went to the castle where the beast was, claiming he also had the work of witchcraft on his side. I tried to get to the castle before the mob, but it was too late. By the time I reached there, he was already dead. He dragged his carcass to town and had it stuffed and mounted on a plaque, like his many other trophies. The only freedom I had known was in that castle and that life was no longer a choice. I agreed to marry Gaston to live out his daydreams. The next Autumn, we had twin boys. He could not have been more pleased.

When my husband went out hunting, I rode across the countryside, to find a bit of piece and quiet after putting Jacques and little Gaston to nap. One day, I found an old woman along the road, limping, and obviously exhausted. She asked me if I’d anywhere to spend the night. I let her on my horse and brought her back home. While my husband was irate, I didn’t care. I had born him children and made sure the house was kept tidy - that was all that really mattered to him. I stayed up the whole night speaking with the woman. She told me of a young man in the vicinity that she had once put a curse on a prince. He was vain and selfish, not allowing her a place to stay until she transformed into a young, beautiful woman. She noted his obsession with roses. I asked if she knew the name of the castle he resided in. “The Castle of the Rose, it was,” she told me. This was the woman that had cursed the Beast! I lent the woman a bed and gave her a hot meal before and after she woke. 

The next morning, she left, refreshed and I vowed to hunt. While she had given the Beast a taste of his own medicine, this simply was not fair. I studied, trying to find any loopholes in the curses that I did find. They called me the Secret Breaker. When the individuals were cursed, they were forbidden to tell their secrets, but I who had first had experience, could tell there was something wrong. I would find the loopholes and break off their curse, riding into the night, giving their lives back to these poor people after staying a few nights to teach them how to be a person again. 


End file.
